Suprised at what they are carrying

Scott J. said:
None of my friends are knife nuts. My hunting buddies all carry Buck knives, most of the people I know dont carry knives and a few carry wal mart range Kershaws. My son Carrie's (when he does) a 501.
As for me I have enough knives so I don't *need any more, and since I dont need to buy a knife I only buy Case, Buck or Benchmade. I tried a rough rider and I like it, but I'm conflicted about it. I think going forward I'm just going to buy American, I just can't stand the thought of supporting the CCP.
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Good thing Rough Rider is an American company then, no? :)
Rough Rider is owned by SMKW, in Tennessee, not CCP.
CCP does not own every business in China like they did in the 1950's and 1960's. They haven't since the late 1960's or early 1970/1971.
I know a guy who relocated his yacht Service/Modification/Refit and Construction company to China from Tampa, Florida, back around 2003.
He still owns his company.
 
scrteened porch said:
If Bear and Sons is cheaper than Case, more made-in-America sentimentalists can afford them, so the hardware stores will sell more of them.
Most people don't carry a knife, most who do carry a knife carry something less traditional, most who want something more traditional have to count their pennies. My cousin the accountant has been saying for years that people don't have much discretionary income.
My best survivnig hardware store has Case, Victorinox, and Chinese Schrade.
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Lot of basic truth here. Wherever you live, US or in my case Europe, knife use and carry is becoming less widespread and even frowned upon :thumbsdown: Those who do like knives are often 'insular' about their tastes and oddly look down on other types of knife :rolleyes:

Your accountant relative is likely very right- people often have to 'confess' their real situation to an accountant- like a sinner to a Catholic priest:D Even those with flashy cars and mega homes are only barely able to do this due to a bigger mountain range of debt they are able to get...but being on modest income, hard up or poor is one of today's great taboos;)
 
Most of my relatives carry a tactical type knife or a very modern traditional. Not surprised at that.:rolleyes: Some of my friends occasionally pull out an SAK...usually a Classic. When I pull out a traditional (usually a jack) eyebrows are raised.:eek: It must look like a machete to them:D
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I live in the sticks & almost all the jobs around here are timber or farming related. I don't think I know anybody who doesn't carry some form of knife. Multi tools, like Leatherman & Gerber are popular. Knife carriers are pretty much split evenly between modern folders & traditionals, but nothing fancy. Whichever it is, it has to work, it has to last, and it'll probably be American made. A lot of stores around here carry Benchmades, Bucks & Cases.
 
Traditional folders are a lot harder to spot, because they don't clip to the pocket. I'm sure around here (NW Pennsyvania) there's still a lot of traditionals being carried, but they're hidden in pockets. It's a lot easier to spot modern and multitools...and there are a lot of them.

Case is still far and away the easiest traditional to buy around here (1.5 hrs from Bradford). They have a display in every small hunting/fishing store. Of course they're usually priced 30% higher than online, and about double the price of some name brand moderns. Oh, and they're almost all the amber bone handles.
 
I live in the Netherlands. Knives here are seen as weapons by most people. The country is so flat that if your dog runs off you can still see it running for the next 2 weeks and wild camping is illegal. There for outdoor sports and hiking aren't that common unfortunatly.

That being said the few outdoor shops and army surplus stores mostly sell buck and opinel knives. Beside that it's mostly SAK and occasionally a crkt or sog. At least in my area (near the Hague). My first knife was an old Elinox SAK from the 70's I still have as my grandpa gave it to me years ago.
 
Amir Fleschwund said:
I hate what happened to Camillus and Schrade and their employees.
That’s all I’m gonna say about buying cheap knives.
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I'm not happy about what happened to Schrade USA and its subsidiaries, either.

However, there were several reasons besides "people buying cheap knives" involved in the bankruptcy.

Not the least of which was employees going on strike for a couple months before agreeing to the wage and benefit reductions requested by Schrade before the strike, during a fairly serious (if I remember right) recession; management locking out those union and non-union workers who chose to ignore the union's decision to strike, and reported for work; that fool guaranteed against loss warranty*, and defective/weak proprietary Swendon Key construction, (I'd guess no less than half the knives that left the factory were warranty replacements for a failed Swendon Key(s), and allegedly lost knives.); permanently "laying off" (AKA: "fired") all but 14 union workers** after the strike; failure to come out with "modern" knives timely when that market developed**; having "some to most"** of the "modern" knives made in Japan**, when "made in Japan" was looked down on far, far worse than "made in Pakistan" is today, just to name a few.

*Taking "Human Nature" and greed into consideration, "logic" and "common sense" both say there is little doubt that many (but not all) saw that "Guaranteed Against Loss" as "Buy One Get One (or more, since the replacement knife was guaranteed against loss, too.) Free."

One of the primary reasons Buck changed the contract for the 300 series knives form Schrade to Camillus, before making them in-house, was the number of knives sent in for a failed Swendon key.

**per Wikipedia and other online sources, including a couple Schrade Collector forums. There was no agreement on the forums concerning how many different models of modern knives were manufactured offshore. Some claimed "All"; some claimed "about/around half".
Unsurprisingly, AAPK didn't mention the offshore produced knives other than a quick mention Imperial moved to Ireland after the fire. Didn't even mention Schrade bought the factory in Ireland, in their article that I recall.
Of course AAPK also alleges Robeson didn't make a knife in USA until 1979. They claim everything was imported from Germany before that.
Odd, that. My circa 1909-1911 Robeson pen knife was made in USA ...
Needless to state, AAPK's information isn't necessarily reliable, nor complete.

(Opinion) ***No doubt moving production of the Imperial line to Ireland after the Providence plant burned down had a negative impact on Imperial brand sales. (Opinion)

(Opinion) Closing Ulster in 1969/1970, along with the earlier closings of the other lower priced Schrade brands such as Hammer Brand (obtained with NYKC) leaving only Imperial, was not the wisest long term decision Schrade management could have made, and may have contributed to the eventual bankruptcy, and closing of Schrade USA. (Opinion

***Well I remember friends, some adult family members, and a few co-workers who normally carried an Imperial claim those made in Ireland were sub-par somehow, (Yes, I am aware they were/are not.) and their buying a different brand low cost knife instead of a "inferior"/"nasty" (their words, not mine) Imperial with "Ireland" on the tang.

A few adult family members refused to buy another Schrade product "in protest" of the Made in Ireland Imperials.
One or two may not have been aware of the fire. Those that were, were of the opinion the plant should have been repaired, refurbished, and re-opened, or "production should have been moved to the idle Ulster plant!" (their words, not mine).
I know those who never bought another Schrade product the rest of their life (all were planted long before 2004) were ... "not happy" ... with Schrade for shutting down Ulster. I suppose moving Imperial to Ireland, was "the straw that broke the camel's back" in their minds.
 
I made it to a small flea market this morning to check out the edged tool selection. This market is full of collectors but not only a few tables of knives. I did see a set of American made Boker knives, some kind of Commenteratuve deal, $25 ea, and one "USA" hawkbill, but I'm not sure about it. Then there was a lady selling the frost tactifool knives, the ones that fall apart if you sneeze hard! I inquired about one and was told it's very rare and comes with a limited warranty...all for $30!! I asked a fellow enthusiast what he had and again it was a bear & son, stagbone handled with Damascus blades. Very nice! Another trader showed me a nice case hawkbill, he had purchased earlier for $30 new in box!!

As for schrades, I think they must have been the chosen blade for mill workers around here. I do know they used to give them as awards in the 70s-80s in cotton mills here.
 
Here's what I've noticed at sporting goods stores and big-box stores in my are (greater Houston area). In general, in-store knife selections seem to have shrunken significantly and modern "tacticool" knives comprise more of the in-store stocks. my closest sporting goods store, Academy, used to carry a large selection of Buck and Case traditional models and patterns (stockman, trapper, toothpick, canoe, sodbuster) in blister packs on the rack where anyone could just pick one out and drop it in their basket. Now, most of the Bucks are modern "tacticool" types, and the Case knives are all behind the glass at the knife counter. They also have a smattering of Taylor brand Schrades and Old Timers, SAKs, and Leatherman multitools. But I would say that more than 50% of their stock is Benchmade, Kershaw, Gerber, CRKT, SOG, and other modern knives. I've never seen a Rough Rider or Bear & Sons knife in a store, though I did see a (probably Chinese-made) Boker stockman one time on the end of an aisle. Haven't seen it since.

Stores tend to only carry what sells the best at their brick-and-mortar locations, while the rest gets sold online or not at all. Amazon has taken a lot of the online market as well.
 
I would also guess that knives are popular shoplifting targets, which gives stores more incentive to carry smaller stocks in-store but still sell them online.
 
As said earlier it’s hard to tell how many folks are carrying traditional styled pocket knives. I’m along the panhandle of FL and the hardware stores offer a lot of the standard Case offerings. Yellow and amber bone trappers, stockmans, peanuts, pen knives and sodbusters. You can buy a Buck 110 in just about any sporting goods or hardware store as well. Honestly high quality brand traditionals like Buck and Case are easier to come by here than your modern brands like benchmade and Spyderco. The modern knife market down here is all cheap gas station specials but there is plenty of Case, Buck and Bear and Son to choose from.
 
bladeblabber said:
As said earlier it’s hard to tell how many folks are carrying traditional styled pocket knives. I’m along the panhandle of FL and the hardware stores offer a lot of the standard Case offerings. Yellow and amber bone trappers, stockmans, peanuts, pen knives and sodbusters. You can buy a Buck 110 in just about any sporting goods or hardware store as well. Honestly high quality brand traditionals like Buck and Case are easier to come by here than your modern brands like benchmade and Spyderco. The modern knife market down here is all cheap gas station specials but there is plenty of Case, Buck and Bear and Son to choose from.
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You know we all love to look at them! And some of us still buy them to play with... :)
 
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You still see Case knives locally in hardware stores. They generally have a selection of Frost and Victorinox knives as well as multitools. Hardware stores sell or offer what sells in their market. They don't stock things that they can't sell generally. It's a shame you're afishhunter afishhunter stuck in an assisted living situation where your movements (even if you are physically able) are restricted.

So, I guess you aren't doing any fishing either?
 
22-rimfire said:
It's a shame you're afishhunter afishhunter stuck in an assisted living situation where your movements (even if you are physically able) are restricted.

So, I guess you aren't doing any fishing either?
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It could be worse. I could be taking a dirt nap, instead. :)

I think the last time I was able to go fishing, was 2006 or 2007, when I was in the Florida Keys. (no charge for a Florida Saltwater fishing license if you fished from shore. :) I didn't catch anything though. :(
Last time I went hunting was 12 years or so earlier. :(

I don't know if I'll be able to do either again, here in Idaho. I hope I can. :) (although it seems all the water in the area is "why bother catch and release only", even if you only get a bluegill, crappie, or catfish. (invasive species, all three. You'd think Idaho would want to get rid of invasive species that eat trout, sturgeon, and salmon eggs ... but nooooo ...) If I can't keep at least a couple for eating, why bother?

For the cost of a resident fishing license, I can buy 20-30 pounds cheap ("wild caught") pre-seasoned Alaskan pink salmon, that the folk in Alaska consider "trash salmon", and feed their catch of it to their hounds, I'm told by a friend who has family there. Or less salmon along with 5, maybe 10 pounds Tilapia, or catfish nuggets or whole/filet catfish at Albertsons or WINCO, and be guaranteed a meal or three. :) )
 
I swung by the humongous bass pro shop world in Las Vegas the other day because it was the only listed dealer of Case Knives in the area and they had a tall glass case of them that were mostly trappers, stockman, and peanuts and almost all of them in amber bone or that fancy patriotic kirinite. They had none of the patterns or handles I was looking for, so I left.

Las Vegas is mostly city and suburbs and there aren’t a lot of good places to camp or hunt or fish, and there are a few ranches far away, but no farms, so most people just don’t carry knives. A lot of places like casinos don’t want people carrying knives either. I use my knives to open mail, packages, and eat fruit and not much else. But I do like carrying one on me when I go out just in case, but I don’t think I’ve ever used one outside of my house except when I was a working as a stagehand. I struggle to find a use for one but I still think they’re cool.
 
There are plenty of knives to be had all over eastern NC. Depending on the store you will find these brands most often: Buck, Case, and off-shore Schrade are in most gunshops and hardware stores that stock traditional (with some hardware stores stocking Rough Rider too). Other than those I see the big brands of modern knives, they are very popular - Benchmade, Kershaw, Spiderco, etc. I guess the national chains (Lowe’s, WalMart, Tractor Supply, Academy, Cabela’s, etc) continue to carry the same lines all over the country. As for Bear & Son, I only see a small selection of them in the Ace Hardware displace cases (that also have small selections of Buck, Case, and Vic SAK’s). I wouldn’t write Case off yet, does anyone know how many knives they make and sell each year? That would tell me they are doing fine, what I see is speculation, not facts, would love to know the actual story. OH
 
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